Deuteronomy 17:14-20
English Standard Version
Laws Concerning Israel's Kings
14 “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, (A)‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you may indeed set a king over you (B)whom the Lord your God will choose. One (C)from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he must not acquire many (D)horses for himself or cause the people (E)to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, (F)‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17 And he (G)shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, (H)nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.
18 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, (I)he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, (J)approved by[a] the Levitical priests. 19 And (K)it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, (L)that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he (M)may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, (N)so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.
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- Deuteronomy 17:18 Hebrew from before
Deuteronomy 17:14-20
King James Version
14 When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;
15 Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.
16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.
17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:
19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:
20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.
Read full chapterThe Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
